This was a post I used to write typically in the first or second week of January. But recently things have not been going in the usual way. I also used to provide a couple of line summaries and my take on the books that I read but that too seemed too much of effort. But I want to make sure that the list is here for archives and I get on with the things. This post was holding back a number of things that I wanted to write about.
While I am not going to write about each book that I read, however, there are somethings that can be generalized about my last year’s reading.
- I did not get much time to read non-fiction. For me, non-fiction is serious reading and I do dedicate some time in my day for that but last year was a test for my time-management skills. While I completed only three books in the non-fiction category, I have a number of them unfinished. Last year, we had gone to Ramana Maharishi’s ashram and picked up a bagful of books. Ramana Maharishi is probably the only modern time sage who attracts me and evokes respect. So I spent good amount of time reading his books and his life story. The other theme that I read a lot (does not indicate in the list of books here as many of those books did not get completed) was climate change and air-pollution: these are not only my personal interest areas but also professional needs. But again, out of 10-15 books that I had planned to read last year on this topic, I could finish only three.
- In the fiction category, there has been a conscious effort to read more Hindi books. And, I managed to read four books, including the epic-length Mujhe Chand Chahiye. I also risked picking up a book by young Hindi writers or Nayi Hindi authors and was quite surprised by Aughad.
- Majority of fiction that I read this year were my flight reads or bedtime reading and I tried to finish some of the series that I was following, including a great series that turned into a disappointment by Dean Koontz. I also attempted an Indian crime fiction/whodunit by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay and it was good. Nine Perfect Strangers was a big disappointment and so was Blue Moon and The Silent Patient.
- The two standout books of this year for me were Laburnum for My Head, a collection of short stories by Temsula Ao and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Eleanor Oliphant has been a rage last year so it got on my reading list but Temsula Ao was a finding from some random search and glad that I got this.
Fiction
- The Silent Patient By Alex Michaelides
- Blue Moon By Lee Child
- Laburnum for My Head By Temsula Ao
- Mujhe Chand Chahiye (Hindi) By Surendra Varma
- Tell No One By Harlan Coben
- Rehan Par Raghu(Hindi) By Kashinath Singh
- The Arsonist By Kiran Nagarkar
- The Girl Who Lived Twice By David Lagercrantz
- Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine By Gail Honeyman
- Penumbra By Bhaskar Chattopadhyay
- Aughad (Hindi) By Nilotpal Mrinal
- The Night Window By Dean Koontz
- Mayapuri (Hindi)By Shivani
- The Lost Man By Jane Harper
- Debris Line By Matthew Fitzsimmons
- Nine Perfect Strangers By Liane Moriarty
- Newcomer By Keigo Higashino
- Out of Dark By Gregg Hurwitz
Non-fiction
- The Great Derangement By Amitav Ghosh
- The Collected Works of Ramana Mahirishi
- Looking Within Life Lessons From Lal Ded